7. A Culmination of 3D Super Mario

Koizumi-san, I have to ask. What would you say to people who say that Super Mario Galaxy is better for Super Mario on a home console?

Koizumi:

Well… first of all, I say thank you.

Iwata:

I can understand that. Your team made it! (laughs)

Koizumi:

This may not be a direct answer, but personally, when we made Super Mario Galaxy, I had regrets about some things. I was able to do those things in SUPER MARIO 3D WORLD.

Iwata:

Regrets?

Koizumi:

One goes all the way back to Super Mario 64. When we made the first prototype, Mario and Luigi were on a flat field.

Iwata:

Both of them.

Koizumi:

Yes. We ran it that way, but when we made the landforms, because of hardware limitations we had a choice between cutting Luigi or making more elaborate landforms. Then, in tears, we had to ask Luigi to leave.

Iwata:

Oh, is that so?

Koizumi:

And at that time, I talked with Miyamoto-san about having Luigi appear alongside Mario sometime in a multiplayer 3D Super Mario game. I’ve thought that for 15 years.

Iwata:

Okay.

Koizumi:

Later, Luigi appeared in Super Mario Galaxy, but instead of running around together with his big brother, he got treated somewhat differently. But this time, he finally stands on the same course with Mario as a character that will make people say, “Luigi’s great!” I think that’s fantastic.

Iwata:

You wanted Luigi and Mario to intermingle in a 3D Super Mario game.

Koizumi:

Yes. Another regret regarding Super Mario Galaxy. I think the deep-blue image of space and the impression you get from the title was more geared toward boys. I felt like a player-character you might want to choose besides Mario was necessary to convince, say, my wife to feel comfortable picking it up and playing. This time, we welcomed in Princess Peach, so you can play a female character. In that way, I feel like we filled in a piece that had been missing.

Iwata:

A weight that had been on you for years was lifted.

Koizumi:

Yes. I’m extremely grateful to have Miyamoto-san call it a culmination of new 3D Super Mario games.

Iwata:

To the developers, it’s all one connected thing.

Koizumi:

That’s right. We’ve made use of the technology cultivated through Super Mario Galaxy, and characters like Rosalina and Captain Toad, who came about through those games, play a new role. SUPER MARIO 3D WORLD is the form we chose to have a greater number of people enjoy that, so I think this is the present culmination of 3D Super Mario games.

Iwata:

Alright.

Miyamoto:

Just so there is no misunderstanding, I should point out that this doesn’t mean we’ll never make another Super Mario Galaxy game.

Koizumi:

That’s right. When we first started making SUPER MARIO 3D WORLD, Miyamoto-san asked me if this was going to be more like Super Mario Galaxy or more like SUPER MARIO 3D LAND. When we made SUPER MARIO 3D LAND, we had our eyes on the form of this game, so we made it this way without any hesitation.

Miyamoto:

The same team can’t make both at the same time. And we can’t bring in a second party and slap the name Super Mario Galaxy on it. I suppose we could idealistically make both in Tokyo, but we want to do something new too, so there was that dilemma.

Iwata:

Well, uniqueness and a high degree of freedom are always on a balance against how easy a game is to understand.

Miyamoto:

Personally, I would like to take on a variety of new challenges with Super Mario Galaxy and design 2D Super Mario games in an easy-to-understand way within certain restraints.

Iwata:

Either way, to fans of Super Mario Galaxy, SUPER MARIO 3D WORLD is in no way a different beast that they won’t be able to enjoy.All right, I’d like to finish up by having you deliver a message to the fans. Let’s start with Motokura-san.

Motokura:

This time, we really put in a lot of ideas that were thought up by a lot of our staff members. Hoping that all kinds of people would play, there’s Cat Mario and a new world map and so forth. There’s a lot of freedom, and it’s a 3D Super Mario game that I think anyone can enjoy. I believe people who like Super Mario Galaxy and those who like SUPER MARIO 3D LAND would have a blast. I hope you will pick it up.

Iwata:

All right. Hayashida-san.

Hayashida:

Okay. What I want to say is about the same as Motokura-san, but in the midst of making this game, we said it was everybody’s friend. It presents a different face to different people.

Iwata:

That usually means something negative, but you mean it in a good way.

Hayashida:

It has extremely accessible yet deep content that you can play over and over. And we revamped the sound this time, so it includes live recordings of setups like a big band24, and we also used traditional Japanese instruments like the shakuhachi and the shamisen that you don’t hear very often in video games. We luxuriously used live sound recordings in the game from the very best players in Japan, so I hope people will be sure to pay attention to that.24. Big band: A type of jazz performed by a large number of members on trumpet, trombone, saxophone, drums and other instruments. It was used for some of the music in Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Iwata:

Okay. Koizumi-san?

Koizumi:

Earlier, we talked about a weight being lifted. Since SUPER MARIO 3D LAND, I’ve heard there’s been a marked change in those playing.

Iwata:

It’s true that fewer people are saying, “I can’t play 3D Super Mario.”

Koizumi:

Right. In order for people like that to take a step further, we have prepared gameplay rich in content, so I hope they’ll play. The biggest thing is being able to choose your player-character and the increased sense that this is a true Super Mario game in every way, so I think it’s become easier to invite someone you know to play. We had Co-Star Mode25 in Super Mario Galaxy as well, but this time you can enjoy it together more intuitively.25. Co-Star Mode: A way for a second player to use the Wii Remote controller to assist the player controlling Mario.

Iwata:

It’s like, “Come on and play!”

Koizumi:

I would be happy if people use it casually as a tool for sharing the same experience of the same scenes.

Iwata:

Alight. And last, Miyamoto-san.

Miyamoto:

This game has so much fun packed in, so I hope people will turn on the power every day and play it. I’d also be happy if people try playing in a relaxed fashion, like playing with the Wii U GamePad resting on their laps. Please experience the fun of 3D Super Mario!

Iwata:

It has density and volume – with each element rich in itself. I truly feel that only this team could have made it. I’m sure everyone can enjoy it, from longtime players of 3D Super Mario to people who have taken an interest after seeing videos of it.It has been prepared to have many forms for many people, impressing me with the degree of consideration the developers have shown to the players. I hope you’ll experience it from different angles, make many discoveries, and boast about them on Miiverse.

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